The Queen Of Sheba: Worship The King
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Children’s Bible Page 388
Have you ever experienced something so stunning that it took your breath away?
I remember when I saw the Grand Canyon in person, it was stunning.
It made me feel so small, and I was lost in the majesty of the scene.
I think about my wedding day and the feeling I had as Robin walked down the aisle.
My dad took us to Los Angeles on vacation, and we went to a Lakers game where Kobe Bryant scored 60 points.
It was an awe inspiring performance.
What moments have you experienced that were so awe inspiring that they took your breath away?
As we continue our sermon series on different women in the Bible, we are going to consider the story of a woman simply described to us as the Queen of Sheba.
And in this event, the Queen experiences something that is so awesome that it stuns her and takes her breath away.
Now, Sheba was a very fertile region of southwest Arabia where we would find the country of Yemen today.
Just like today, back then, Sheba was a wealthy country and a trade center for trading perfumes, gold, incense, myrrh, spices, and precious stones.
And because of all the traveling traders, the Queen of Sheba began to hear all of this talk about the glory of King Solomon, who was the King of Israel at that time,
So, we are going to read that the Queen of Sheba decided to travel and see Solomon and his kingdom for herself.
And when she goes, she is stunned to silence by the glory of King Solomon and His kingdom!
Now, the ultimate purpose God has for us in this text is not simply to consider how God brought great glory to King Solomon back then, but to consider that King Solomon points us forward to an even greater and more glorious King and kingdom; King Jesus and the kingdom of God that he is bringing.
And as we consider how the Queen of Sheba responds to King Solomon, we are compelled to respond all the more to the glory of King Jesus and his kingdom he is bringing.
Please follow along as I read God’s word over us:
1 Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind. 3 And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, 5 the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.
6 And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, 7 but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard. 8 Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! 9 Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.” 10 Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
11 Moreover, the fleet of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir a very great amount of almug wood and precious stones. 12 And the king made of the almug wood supports for the house of the Lord and for the king’s house, also lyres and harps for the singers. No such almug wood has come or been seen to this day.
13 And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.
1. Pursue The King For His Wisdom
1. Pursue The King For His Wisdom
Notice, the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord.
In those days, people attached a leader’s successes to the god that they worshipped.
So, the one true God was glorifying His own name through the spread of the news of the glory of His people, and His king Solomon,
Which is how God promised to use and bless his people all along.
God promised Abraham back in Genesis that God would make Abraham into a great nation who would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth, and in this way, God would spread his glory throughout all the earth.
And during the early years of the reign of Solomon, this was coming more to fruition than any other time in Israel’s history.
Solomon understood that his task was to spread the name of the Lord to all nations and make it famous.
Listen to his prayer back in
41 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake 42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, 43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.
60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.
Our text says that when the Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s greatness and the greatness of the name of the Lord, she traveled to Israel to see for herself.
And the first thing it says the queen did was to tell him all that was on her mind and test him with hard questions.
You see, ancient Arabic literature abounds with riddles and proverbs, and they were used to test ones mental abilities and spiritual wisdom.
As leaders, they devoted themselves to study and to provide for their people a strong philosophy of life and spirituality.
It is very likely that many of the Proverbs of Solomon we read in the book of Proverbs are the kinds of things Solomon shared with the Queen.
Now, no doubt, the Queen of Sheba was considered the wisest in her own country.
For wisdom of the gods and of life is what led to success and prosperity.
And we read in verse 2 that the Queen came with great retinue, camels bearing spices, very much gold and precious stones.
In other words, she brought her own posse and bling bling that pointed to the success of her own wisdom.
Yet, when she questioned Solomon and shared all her mind with him, verse 3 says: And Solomon answered all her questions; there was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her.
And when the queen of Sheba had seen all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbearers, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her. And she said to the king, “The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. And behold, the half was not told me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard.”
When she witnessed this, there was no more breath in her.
She was undone and overwhelmed with amazement!
It is like she did not believe that such glory and splendor had existed in the world!
Solomon’s wisdom, possessions, and ceremonies were overwhelmingly glorious.
As I mentioned earlier, all the Old Testament points us forward to King Jesus who is the very embodiment of true wisdom.
And isn’t wisdom what we are all longing for?
Having wisdom means being able to find purpose and meaning, abundance, happiness, and peace.
This is what living with true wisdom brings.
Proverbs says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all true wisdom, because wisdom is about walking in a way of blessing that blesses your life and others, and since God is the creator of life and knows how it works best, we must fear him and find all wisdom from him.
Just as Solomon astounded the Queen of Sheba with his wisdom in his day, Jesus astounded all he met during his ministry with the greatness of his wisdom.
27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.
1 He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands?
34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
In other words, all were stunned to silence by the wisdom of Jesus.
Every time Jesus’ enemies tried to stump him with a question, they ended up stunned to silence by the wisdom of his answer.
Because Jesus is God, he is the very embodiment of all wisdom, a truly wonderful counselor.
And during his ministry, Jesus actually reminds people about our text today in 1 Kings and the queen of Sheba as he instructs us on how we are to respond to His great wisdom.
In the passage, Jesus calls her the queen of the south, same person.
42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
In the context, the enemies of Jesus are asking him to do a miracle.
Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you!
The irony is that they wanted to see the show, but they were not willing to listen to or believe what Jesus had to say.
We want to see the show, but we don’t want to heed your words!
So, Jesus says that what His enemies can learn from the queen of Sheba is that when she heard of the great wisdom of Solomon, she was willing to travel a great distance to hear it.
Now, here you are with Jesus speaking the words of wisdom right in front of you and all you want is to see another miracle.
The question for you and me is: Are you pursuing the king in his wisdom?
Are you seeking him daily through His word, through being a part of his church, through not leaning in your own understanding but trusting that his ways are greater than your ways and his thoughts greater than your thoughts?
Are you waiting for God to show up in some dramatic display in your life before you will trust him when the truth is that faith comes by hearing the wise words of God?
Church, have we not found the wise words of Jesus to be the source of our very life, purpose, peace, and good?
May we rest our hearts and our lives on the wisdom of our God even over and above looking for the next dramatic display.
May we continue to put in the effort to mine the wisdom of God’s word.
If you are here today, and you are not a Christian, can I challenge you to do what the queen of Sheba did?
When she heard about the king, she did not merely dismiss it, she took the time to look into it for herself.
She put in the effort to find out for herself.
She wasn’t sure if it was true, but she chose to search it out, and in searching it out she found and experienced more than she could have ever imagined.
And what she found stunned her to silence.
Look into the claims of Jesus in the gospels, look into the resurrection of Jesus, don’t say you don’t believe in Jesus if you have never really looked into Him for yourself.
Pursue the king for His wisdom.
2. Delight In The King Of Justice and Righteousness
2. Delight In The King Of Justice and Righteousness
Verses 8-9: Happy are your men! Happy are your servants, who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel! Because the Lord loved Israel forever, he has made you king, that you may execute justice and righteousness.”
The queen of Sheba goes on to speak of the blessedness and happiness of those who serve King Solomon due to the fact that they get to hear his wisdom.
The queen is compelled to worship God for his delighting in Solomon and putting him on Israel’s throne.
It is so obvious to her that God loves the people of Israel for making a man king who is able to execute justice and righteousness.
You know, in our day and age, it is tempting to believe a leader is good as long as they seem knowledgeable and they have a charismatic personality.
Yet, how many times have we witnessed that a leader with all the knowledge and charisma in the world so oftentimes cannot lead toward life and flourishing over the long haul?
What actually makes the greatest leader is his inner character of justice and righteousness and being able to apply that character to his leadership over the long haul.
I believe the concept of justice is summed up in what we popularly call the Golden Rule.
12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Showing no partiality.
Able to treat and value others with a consistency across the board desiring the good of all even more than you desire good for yourself.
The queen of Sheba was awe inspired by Solomon’s ability to execute justice and righteousness.
Righteousness is a perfectly consistent standard of being and doing based on who God is and what God does.
A righteous person is not swayed by the narratives and opinions of the day.
They are able to stand on what is right and lead from what is right.
Now, just as the great yet imperfect wisdom of Solomon leads us to desire the see the perfect wisdom only found in Christ Jesus, seeing Solomon’s great yet imperfect justice and righteousness leads us to desire to see and experience the perfect justice and righteousness of King Jesus.
While Solomon and his father David were most probably the two greatest examples of kings in the Old Testament who led with wisdom, justice, and righteousness, it is extremely obvious as you read the account of their lives that they fall so far short of perfect wisdom, justice, and righteousness.
For there were things that these men said, did, and desired that would make us all blush and would be things we would hope would never characterize us because it would devastate our lives, our reputations, and our families.
It’s a reminder of just how sinful our sin truly is even amongst those who may have the greatest of reputations or are considered the godliest among us.
It’s a reminder of just how gracious God is to use His people, who are still such sinners, to show off His glory and lead others to a knowledge of God.
It’s also a reminder of just how desperate we are to be led and ruled by a king who perfectly embodies all wisdom, justice, and righteousness, and that is King Jesus.
While God empowered Solomon to genuinely yet imperfectly display wisdom, justice, and righteousness in his leadership, Jesus, the God man, came and displayed to us the perfections of wisdom, justice, and righteousness.
Jesus spoke with authority and answered every question and challenge ever brought to him.
Jesus displayed perfect justice in showing no partiality to Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, old, or young, and he proved that he always desired the good of others even over his own good, as he took the punishment that we deserve for our sins on the cross.
It was right and just for God to punish our sin.
King Jesus is both just and our justifier by taking the punishment of our sin on himself.
Jesus displayed perfect righteousness in living a life in the full pleasure and obedience to God the Father.
He was never swayed by popular narratives or the opinions of others, but he always did what was perfectly right by God.
King Jesus’ perfect righteousness qualified him to be the only perfect sacrifice for our sin.
And when he was murdered on the cross, he took the place of our sin, so that we could be gifted the place of his righteousness.
And when He rose three days later, he rose to justify all who would turn and place their faith in him.
As we see the Queen of Sheba delight in King Solomon’s execution of justice and righteousness, may we all the more delight and be happy in King Jesus who is bringing about his perfect kingdom through His Spirit, His word, and His church.
May we delight in that fact that our future is secured by King Jesus who will finally establish His perfect and glorious kingdom where He will perfectly lead us in His wisdom, righteousness, and justice for eternity.
If you are not a Christian today, would you consider just how much our culture is crying for justice and righteousness, yet in our broken sinfulness, mankind cannot find a leader who embodies these qualities fully enough, and cannot find a man with the wisdom enough to bring us all together and perfectly lead us forward in these ways.
But I know a man.
A man who is God.
A man who is God’s son who was sent to earth the first time to pay the penalty our sin and rise for our justification,
And who is coming again to bring final judgment on all foolishness, injustice, and wrong and to establish the perfect kingdom of God where he will reign in true wisdom, justice, and righteousness.
Delight in the king of justice and righteousness.
3. Give To The King Who Is Generous
3. Give To The King Who Is Generous
Beginning in verse 10, look at what the queen does in response to all that she has seen:
10 Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices and precious stones. Never again came such an abundance of spices as these that the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
When I was growing up, there was a show on TV called MTV cribs.
Anyone remember MTV cribs?
The whole show was about taking a tour of famous people’s houses in order to see all these extravagant things these rich and famous people had that us normal people don’t.
But I’ve got to say that the display of gift giving we see exchanged between the queen of Sheba and King Solomon here makes any of those cribs look like a cheap motel room in comparison.
In response to all the glory the queen has witnessed, she gifts to Solomon 9,000 pounds of gold. That’s how much 120 talents is.
I used chatgpt and 9,000 pounds of gold today is worth $502,977,240.
Girl is showing off the bling in a way we cannot imagine.
Along with 9,000 pounds of gold, she gives him a very great quantity of spices and precious stones.
I have a feeling Solomon was going to be smelling nice for a very long time.
And, what is this, Aladdin’s cave of wonders? She gave him many precious stones.
I think God has a great sense of humor, because as soon as we see the queen give Solomon these unimaginably great gifts, the next verse says that his own fleet of ships arrives with the greatest order of precious wood and stones for him to fortify the temple and his house greater than anyone has ever seen.
It’s like the queen is like look at this glorious gift I can give you.
And Solomon’s like, wow, I mean I’m not saying that’s not great and all, I’m just a little distracted by the sound of my fleet of ships pulling up with the grandest load anybody has ever seen.
Final verse:
13 And King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all that she desired, whatever she asked besides what was given her by the bounty of King Solomon. So she turned and went back to her own land with her servants.
Other than one of the most impressive presentations of wealth imaginable, what is going on here?
When the queen had seen all that God had done to bless Solomon, she wanted to be a part of it.
This gift giving was a show of blessing and good will toward one another.
Yet, no matter how much the queen was able to give Solomon, Solomon was able to give her so much more, all that she desired.
In a much more profound way, when we are stunned to silence by the glory of King Jesus in all his wisdom, justice, and righteousness displayed in his life, death, and resurrection, we want to be a part of it!
We want to give something back to God.
We want to worship God, and serve him with our time, our talents, and our treasure!
We want to give ourselves to the cause of his kingdom and spreading of his gospel and his glory amongst all people.
In response to our glorious King Jesus, we are to respond with radical generosity with our time, our money, and our service.
We are to be cheerful in our giving of ourselves as we are filled with the Spirit of God and joyfully responding to how glorious Jesus is!
Like, why would we give our time, our money, and our talents in order to send a team all the way to Scotland to put on a VBS for unchurched kids and families?
Because we have seen and experienced the glory of King Jesus and we want to give others the opportunity to see it as well!
But, listen, no matter how much we give to the Lord and pour out for the cause of God’s kingdom in the world, we must never forget that he is one who own the cattle on a thousand hills.
The truth is that you can never out give God.
Just as the queen’s great gifts could not even compare to what Solomon could give,
Our giving of our money, time, and talents will never compare to what God gives to us.
Too many times we are tempted to pity ourselves for the ways that we seek to give and serve and pour ourselves out.
We are tempted to compare ourselves to others who don’t seem to give or serve nearly as much as we do.
But the truth is:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
God has blessed us and sealed us for an inheritance beyond our wildest dreams, and anything we give and pour out in response to His glory has nothing to do with our great efforts, but God’s great grace working in and through us.
So, may we joyfully serve the King and His mission to advance His kingdom in the world, looking forward to the day that will come sooner than you think, when as
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.”
(Pray)
(Lord’s Supper)
(Invitation to Elder at Couch)
Of Solomon.
1 Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to the royal son!
2 May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice!
3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
5 May they fear you while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth!
7 In his days may the righteous flourish,
and peace abound, till the moon be no more!
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth!
9 May desert tribes bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust!
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands
render him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts!
11 May all kings fall down before him,
all nations serve him!
12 For he delivers the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.
13 He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live;
may gold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made for him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all the day!
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field!
17 May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
May people be blessed in him,
all nations call him blessed!
18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Amen and Amen!
20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
